Love never ends!

2 of a series of 3:

(1Corinthians 13:8) “Love never ends…”

In “Agape” love we first see a total selfless sacrifice before any rewards are reaped. I will not profess to speak as one who has understood this topic down-pat but what I will say is what I have been shown by scripture with God the Holy Spirit as my guide. How do I get to such a conclusion? Not only is the pattern throughout scripture obvious and God has shown it to us over and over in and through the law. Men breaking God’s commandments and God by way of sacrificial animals made away for forgiveness. But this only lasted until the next sin, a desperate situation! Therefore all the law really proved was that we are sinners and in need of a life-line if we were to have any hope. It is here we see charity personified! A Son (child) is born in a manger and it is through this life of His that He shows us what “agape love” is all about as He ends up on a cruel Roman cross paying the price for the crime He never committed; “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2Corinthians 5:21)

But what was the state of mankind when this cruel act took place? They (we) were not the friends of God but His enemies; “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10) – I want us to keep this thought in mind; does love require something in return? We know that God’s love is the purest form of love and I will prove this from scripture. Yesterday I spoke of a proviso that in order for us to make it to heaven we must believe in Him (Jesus Christ the Lord), if not our destiny will be hell! But before anything was required from us God first loved us and now that we have been loved first we too must now love back; “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34) – But before we can understand what this means we must first appreciate what it cost God in sending his beloved Son to die for us. This is pivotal if we want to understand “Agape (charity) love – God alone understands the truth of love”!

I pray that God would open our eyes to see what the Spirit now teaches us. So, for us to do this we must first look at the true definition of God’s “Agape” love. There are other types of love that is use in scripture and the one which we often confuse is “phileo” love; which means to be friends to an individual or object, that is, have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling).

What then is this mind-blowing Agape love? The best explanation we have for it is found in 1Corinthians chapter 13: - “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…” (1Corinthians 13:4-8) – This type of love does not end!  When we hear people make statements like I once loved him but I no longer do, all this proves is that this is not God’s love but the love of mankind. This is why we move from relationship to relationship and our minds change all the time, it is a type of love tainted by sin! It does not last! So then before anything is ever expected in return from God He first puts His love on display in and through His beloved Son and sends Him to earth to die for His enemies. Hard to believe but believe it we must!

Let us consider what the Lord relinquished in order to prove Gods love to us. We know He could have called ten thousand angels to rescue Him from the hands of men while on the cross, but he didn’t. Foxes have holes and birds have nest but He had no place to lay His head. He made himself a little lower than the angels and yet He is God. He was under such duress in the Garden of Gethsemane that He began to sweat bloods of blood. At times He had to contend with His unbelieving disciples. All of hell was unleashed upon Him as the bulls of Bashan gaped at Him while on that cruel Roman cross; “Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet-- I can count all my bones-- they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!” (Psalms 22:12-19) - But then above all his own Father turned His back on Him because of our sin; “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"” (Matthew 27:46) – His whole live was filled with obedience to God His Father and yet for our sakes God turn his back on His only begotten Son, mind blowing! 

    

I now trust the difference of men’s understanding of love as opposed to God’s love is clearly understood. Lord willing we will tie the two blogs together and conclude by understanding what must come first in our lives in order for us to be beneficiaries of His love. We hopefully will understand that in God’s love there is nevertheless a condition, we too must lay down our lives like Christ laid down His life for His brethren, you and me, the ones that now believes on Him. This in itself has nothing to do with salvation as it is a free gift but it has everything to do with on-going sanctification (a person set apart by God so that His purposes may be accomplished).

Signing off

Tyrone  

 

Charity!

1 of a series of 3:

(John 3:16)  "For God so loved the world.”

The common definition for love; to feel tender affection for somebody such as a close relative or friend or something such as a place, an idea or an animal and we often quote the word itself. “I love chocolate, I love Italy or I love my cat” are often types of expression we hear people use around the word love. Why do we reason like this? I think it speaks for itself and the short answer would be because of what we get from the one whom we love. I love my cat because she is loyal, or because she gives me affection etc. When we examine it correctly there is always something in it for us. We never say we love a traffic cop who has just given me a speeding ticket. All he is doing is his job and hopefully doing it well. As soon as we are affected in the negative even if we are in the wrong we seldom find that word on our tongues.

Now if someone was to hurt our family the very last word we would ever use is I love that kidnapper for high-jacking me and my children and I am thankful for the ordeal he put us through. No never! Words like hate, revenge and retribution come to mind. Now if a vigilantly suddenly arrived on the scene and did to those criminals exactly what they had done to us, we would think slightly differently about the very same crime. Reasoning like, “they deserve it, or they got was coming to them”. Let me stop right here and let us now focus on a true love, God’s love, “agape love”.

It is only here that we begin to understand the actual truth behind this word. The Greek work used is charity (agape), now when we look on this word it has a different emphasis. Let us think on the word “charity”, as it speaks about someone in need who has nothing in return to give. It is about giving something that we have in our power to give and expect nothing in return. The bible teaches us it is more blessed to give than to receive. But when we give expecting something in return, it is not “agape”. Maybe just smile or a thank you is all we look for, but we still look to be appreciated. Give a beggar some loose change and watch him throw it to the ground as he is unappreciative because he expected more. What would our reaction be? We would resolve it in our minds never to give again or at least to him again. I am sure my point is now crystal.

We as mankind act like the unappreciative beggar over and over again and yet God so loved (agape) us, in other words had “charity” on us, he took pity on us and as He had it in His power to give us a life-line and that is exactly what He did: - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) – Nevertheless to be a beneficiary of this love it does come with a proviso; one must believe in Him to have eternal life. It is as clear as day! Is this love not “agape”? You see a total sacrifice must first be given before the benefits will be reaped. Christ was crucified for a crime he never committed and then God raised Him from the dead, only now does God require something in return, we will look at this in more detail in the next post. What then was God’s intention? Let us now follow the thread of scripture in context. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17) – God offering a life-line to those in the world who would believe on Him. But what of those who will not believe on Him? “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18) – They are condemned already! So do not believe the garbage that now is preached even from some false pulpits, that there is no hell. Hell is a place as real as heaven and those who refuse the love of God in and through the Lord Jesus will end up there. Why then do some people reject this great offer? “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."” (John 3:19-21)

Lord willing we will pick this up again tomorrow and go a little deeper, so until then.

Signing off

Tyrone   

 

   

Sons and not slaves!

(Galatians 4:7)  “So you are no longer a slave, but a son.”

With a true heart in full assurance of faith let us be encouraged to draw near to our God and King, remembering who it is that we reverently approach, He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the only true God, the great I AM! He is Jehovah God and He is our Father. Wow! Let that thought resonate…

Although we are classed as slaves in principle we do indeed have more rights than a slave; “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1) – We have been asked to live in such a manner. 

We have the right as family members to approach the throne room of grace with boldness to find grace to overcome where and when the need arises. Does a servant have the right to insist and wrestle to have their way? No! We are sons through adoption and heirs to the throne of God: - “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Galatians 4:7)   

All of scripture is there to teach us many truths about who we are and our standing before a righteous and holy God. We must pay attention to the typology of scripture; in Christian theology and Biblical exegesis is a doctrine or theory concerning the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. In other words the pattern throughout the Old Testament often prepares us to receive what the New Testament now teaches us through the Apostle doctrine. The first books of the Bible are full of blessings and promises and it all started with Abraham and then passed on to Isaac, through to Jacob who later was named Israel who blessed his twelve sons. We now have the birth of the twelve tribes of Israel; Who later entered the Promised Land and received the promise passed down from God to Abraham. All twelve tribes and their offspring receive the promise once they crossed the Jordan River. God made good on what He had promised, as He always does, praised his name!

Let us consider Jacob’s role in the matter. Did he do anything to arrive at this wonderful blessing from God? On the surface the answer would have to be no! He was born into that position; God had planned it from before the beginning of time. He had been predestined by election. However once He understood his position before God he took the bull by both hands embracing his birth-right. We too must now find the same resolve. How one may ask? Remember his encounter with the angel and how he insisted that the angel bless him, in fact he would not let the angel go until he received a blessing. And after this encounter he probably walked the rest of his life with a limp; “And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed."” (Genesis 32:24-28)

We too now have a new name which we will receive in heaven; “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.'” (Revelation 2:17) - We are now no longer slaves to sin as we once were but heirs to the promise and no different to the promise of Jacob. It is by adoption, but even an adopted son has all the same rights of any other son. The common law of the land even teachers us this truth.

    

The blessings were only ever passed down from father to son – Isaac to Jacob. It was never master to servant and although much of scripture teaches us that we no longer belong to ourselves but have been bought with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus, it now implies the same certainty as it once did, that we are no longer slaves to sin but now by grace, through the promise and as sons we have the right to approach the throne room of grace with confidence. Look at the Apostle Paul’s style of writing as he conveys this truth; “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” (Galatians 4:6-9)

These truths must being to reverberate deep within our souls for when they do the will and must begin to free us to walk with an attitude of thankfulness as we begin to understand that we now belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And yes we must always remember our place with reverence and awe as our God is a consuming fire. But may we never forget that we are no longer slaves to sin but sons to God and we are entitled to the privileges of a Father-son relationship and only because of what Christ achieved on Calvary. And until we understand our position before God, I am not convinced we will have learnt to walk by faith.

Signing off

Tyrone     

Waging War!

2Corinthians 10:3 “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.”

The roots of endurance speak of invincible perseverance in all who have the quality and prove it with their lives. The greatest of all examples would be our Lord and Saviour; remember how He was hard pressed in the “Garden of Gethsemane”, it was such an intense struggle for his flesh (human nature with its passions and desires) that He began to sweat blood from the intensity of what it took for Him to endure His trial and yet never yielding to sin. Ultimate perseverance personified! The accomplishment of this achievement had everything riding on it. If He failed, hell would be our destiny, but now heaven our hope, Amen! Doesn’t that thought just grip your soul? It does mine!

I will ask a question and then consider my answer as it may shock some. Are we sinners or are we saints or in fact both? The answer is not difficult if we reason with the mind of Christ. If I wear my “flesh” thinking cap then by reflex my answer would be, yes I am a sinner. If I reason with the Spirit then my answer must be no! As Christ paid the price for sin on my behalf, sin now no longer can ever be equated to my account. This is the message of the gospel. If I reason with the Spirit and the flesh then my answer would be both, a sinner and a saint. But how can there be so many truths to the same question? I suggest that they are not all true, so then which one is precise? If we have the Spirit of God we are no longer looked upon as sinners by God, because of what His Son, our saviour accomplished on Calvary. Therefore we are no longer classified as sinners but saints. How can that be when we know that sin still plays a part in our lives? This is the beauty of what Christ achieved on our behalf; we are no longer sinners but saints. We are either reconciled to Him or we are still dead in our trespasses and sins. It could never be both! “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.”

What then does this actually teach us? The answer is in the next three verses; “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.” (2Corinthians 10:4-6)

We live a progressive life with this objective in mind to eventually learn obedience in every area of our lives. But through it all we are only ever regarded by God as sons, not sinners, even though sin looks to rob us of our hope in Him. If we reason as sinners then we undermine the great work of the cross and Christ’s resurrection. Almost impossible to believe but believe it we must! So then what happens if we take this truth for granted, well the answer is obvious! We are then disciplined as any father would discipline a disobedient son with one objective in mind and that would be for us to learn to obey. This is the love of God personified! Why? Because of His Son’s achievement and not ours! Because Jesus Christ pleased His Father and God accepted His sacrifice never again to be repeated. So when we reason as sinners we expect the Lord to be sacrifice all over again, undermining His finished work. God forbid we every reason as men and not saints. “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.” “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22)

How then do we attain to this high calling?

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:1) 

Let me now end off with this thought: - Who has opened our eyes to the hope of this glorious gospel message? Was it not God and did He not plan this before the beginning of time. Yes He did! “And all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” (Revelation 13:8) - If He then has establish His will and His own purpose and we now are the beneficiaries of His grace in and though our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, what right do we have to reason with our carnal minds? No right whatsoever! “Let God be true and every man a liar!” We must now reason with all faith toward God. We did not arrive at this understanding that Christ died for us on our own but God revealed this truth to us. Remember when the disciples were with the Lord and He asked them who do you say I am? Peter responded you are the Christ and this was the Lord’s response; “And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”” (Matthew 16:17)

So then if we are able to confess Jesus as Lord of our lives we also have been blessed by God the Father as He has revealed this truth unto us. May we never forget it!

Signing off

Tyrone   

The importance of the resurrection!

(1Corinthians 15:32)  “…If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."

There is a special way in which Paul says things, he puts it out there without much thought given to humanism and I love that about the way he teachers us so many truths about our conduct in Christ. My God give us ears to hear, I pray!  Everything about our faith hinges on the resurrection and because it is pivotal we must learn to live accordingly. There are simple truths that should be part of our everyday existence and yet I think on yesterday and consider what part of life the resurrection portrayed with daily living?

Most of my mornings start well as I am thankful to my God and Father for the discipline in my life when it comes to this blog as it helps me to think on Him and consider the cost of the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice. However this practice is normally over as quick as it starts or so it feels. About 2-3 hours of my time in the mornings and then what? Have I now paid my debt, forgive the way I now reason but look to stress a point. Let me think on yesterday. What did my day consist of? At about 8am I had finished my blog and sat around on my computer until about 11am, emails and the like with some fun time with an idle game. I then got in my new car and drove around looking to fix some minor problems that needed to be addressed. I saw the salesmen who sold me the car, then a radio technician, and finally a mechanic with breakfast in-between in a upmarket coffee shop. I converse with many different people but how much of my discussion revolved around the resurrection? Sadly almost now of it! This great hope, heaven and all its privileges, the hope every believer longs for was placed on the back-burner. Why?

"Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24)

I cannot, we cannot switch on the faucet of eternal life like we switch a tap on and off when water is needed. For if this is the way we live our lives all it really proves is that the resurrection has not captivated our souls. I remember as a babe in Christ, when I was newly saved how I instinctively could not shut-up above my new found love. The Lord Jesus was the be all and end all of all conversations and many of my friends and acquaintances turned to Christ. Not all hold to their conviction, but some are alive and well. What then is now missing? Could I have possibly lost my first love? Truth and self reflection is never an easy thing as we love to live in the pretence world of phantasy, but let me rather be honest in considering the facts. Something is no longer how it once was and I pray that I may get back to the place I once lived. My zeal was real and unstoppable, yes it may have been without knowledge, but it was obvious and it was an undeniable fact. Father God I pray that you would once again cause the zeal of love to burn bright and clear.

We are no longer subject to the fear of bondage and death, Christ has freed us from this yoke. Why then do I so easily forget this? I tell you it is because we lose sight of the hope of the resurrection. We need to be reminded of the facts! And that is what Paul now does for us; “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (1Corinthians 15:14-17)

But we are no longer in our sins, do you believe this? Believe it we must!  But if we believe something strongly enough our conduct will reflect what we believe. May today be a day full of life and please God give us a psalm on our hearts and praise on our lips so that all with will witness the hope we have for the resurrection. There are so many dying in the wicked and perverse generation, how will they know lest we speak: - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2Corinthians 5:17-21) 

So then we pray give us strength Father God to live today in the hope of the resurrection with this expectation that others too may be reconciled to our great God and King in and through His perfect sacrifice.

Signing off

Tyrone  

I have kept the faith!

(2Timothy 4:7) “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

To be poured out as a drink offering is what happened to so many devout men of God. The Lord Jesus was cruelly butchered and was marred more than any other man as He paid the price for the sin of mankind. The Apostle Paul’s life spoke of complete sacrifice and it eventually ran its course, he was just about ready to be received into glory and he knew it; “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2Timothy 4:6-7)

There is much we can learn from these verses, let us then absorb what it teachers. Death and hardship will be the life of a devote Christian, it must be this way, it is what will teach us to walk in the Spirit and it is good for us to have other models that will inspire us to follow their example. This is the jist of what Paul looks to do as he sparked Timothy’s intent by his own hand encouraging him to get on with the task and to preach the gospel. I suppose outside of the Lord Jesus’s suffering one could argue that Paul suffered more than all for the sake of the Gospel.

As humans we have a built in tendency to look to survive, everything teachers us to somehow defeat death. There was a movie of late that was based on actual events. A young man full of adventure looked to climb boulders and explore unknown territory while choosing to do it alone. Then one day he found himself pinned out-of-sight by a huge rock in a gorged for 127 hours, for over five days he was trapped and alone with his thoughts. He was so desperate to live that he eventually found the strength to break his arm and then saw through the flesh of his own arm between the broken bones with a pen-knife. This option obviously seemed better to him than death. He survived and was eventually rescued.

It should be the opposite for the Christian; we should get excited when we see death in that sense as heaven now beckons. The ultimate test of where our allegiance lies. Is it life here on earth or do we really look for our hope to arrive? We all long for the day of the trump of God to sound; “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1Thessalonians 4:16-18) – But I wonder if our hope rests in heaven, I know it must! However do we look to escape death above the hope of heaven? It was not so with the Lord Jesus nor with Paul. Look at Paul’s tone; “and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  

    

There are very few pronounced examples like this man and what he learnt to endure through the hardships he faced for the sake of the gospel: - “Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” (2Corinthians 11:23-28)

Through it all he eventually arrived at a place where with absolute glee was able to echo these words, “and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  

As I look at this man great example it is very encouraging on the one hand but on the other I see my failures as a Christian magnified, it almost leaves me without hope. What have I had to endure, sure I bare many scars in my body, but all because of my own disobedience. I have lived a life of a “bruised reed” for much of my Christian life. Nevertheless I am not without hope, I am convinced that He who has begun the work in my life will see it through until I eventually open my eyes in heaven and see Him face to face. I cannot begin to explain how I long for that day, words elude me!

The Armenian’s like to drill home the point that a true believer may lose his way and fall by the wayside. I tell you this that if you are truly a child of God and if you have the Spirit of God you will never be cast out and left to rot in some gutter somewhere. We may even like Samson loose both our eyes alone our journey here on earth, but our hair will eventually begin to grow once again as God teaches us even through our disobedience to learn to walk by faith and to eventually find obedience for our lives. I suggest that they would argue the point that Samson did not make it, if we did not have record of His lasting faith in the book of Hebrews. God will never abandon one of His own! We must be confident in His ability to get us home. But there has to be a shift in our understanding, heaven must captivate even fibre in our bodies and souls.

So then it will not only be the strong that will be saved on that day but all who belong to Him, praise the glorious name of Jesus Christ the Lord, our God and King. He will not misplace one of His own, as He is the great Shepherd! And yes I can back this up with doctrine! “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:39-40)

Come what may let us hold fast to the confession of our faith.

Signing off

Tyrone   

   

Our Kings Response!

(Matthew 25:40)  “And the King will answer them…”

If we were left to our own devises or our own disciplines where would that leave us? It seems to me that only the Christian who looks to shoot its wounded. But it is the injured that needs the medic. While training as a Marine back in 1985-86 it became obvious that not all where capable of the same hardship, some took the training very hard and where cracked rather easily, while others seemed to never be taken over the edge regardless of what was thrown at them. And it was these young men who were singled out and given the opportunity to enlist within the special units of their regiments. The Infantry had Para-bats, those who jumped from aeroplanes and the South African Special Forces Brigade (popularly known as "Recces"); those who would venture into enemy territory without support to spy out the enemy. The Navy had Divers who went through vigorous training of a different kind as they were often in the water and starved of oxygen and so claustrophobia played its part and not many would qualify. The Air force had pilots and Physical Training Instructors (PTI’s); they were not really the Elite but needed endurance to qualify. And then there was the South African Military Health Service a branch of the South African National Defence Force responsible for medical facilities and the training and deployment of all medical personnel within the force.

And on the physical side just like the Air Force it was an easy ride for most, but even they had their “Elite”, they were known as the “Ops Medics”, those trained for the frontline of battle. I am told their training was also dynamic. These men needed a different kind of endurance, were they capable of high-pressure situation with their lives threatened while trying to save a life of another.

I clearly recall an incident that tested my resilience to a medical situation while undergoing training in Simonstown in Cape Town with a soldier and friend of mine, we were on the same course and we had been through vigorous tests over the year both physically and mentally without too much difficultly. However he kept a secret and he had never informed me that he was an epileptic, as this would have immediately disqualified him for this Coxswain course. In fact he would have been exempt from almost all we had endured over the year. One day while sitting next to me on a bus he collapsed and became to froth at the mouth and convulse uncontrollably. I had never witnessed anything like it and I panicked. I had now been shown my vulnerability and I failed the test; I was no longer in control and did not know what to do. From that day forth I had new respect for “Ops Medics”.

As Christians we all are at war and if we were to only look out for the strong what kind of hope would the stragglers have. We must learn to carry our wounded; they are just as much part of God’s army for Christ has also died for them. Why then do we look down on them as weak, have we forgotten where we once were? We were lost and without hope but now we have an eternal hope. So if we see our brother struggling let us as it were leave the comfort of the ninety-nine and go out and assist the one in need, even with the fiery darts flying over-head. But through this process let us remember this instruction from Jude; “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” (Jude 1:21-23) 

Let us all remember to do the work of the “OPS MEDIC”, remember the bruised reeds for Christ will not let them be broken.

“I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.'” (Matthew 25:36-45) 

Signing off

Tyrone

Stand still!

(Exodus 14:13)  “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”

Sometimes it is good to take a step back and let God talk to us as we stand still. The hyper-activity in life seems to be filled with lots of stuff that is actually meaningless when it comes to God’s plan for our lives and sometimes we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place, confused and with so many voices, so many opinions, what is one to do? BE still and see the salvation of the Lord. I so hate the opposition of the flesh, it is like a dripping tap as it nags away, relentless in its objective. To get me to walk in unbelief and to fall into sin, and at times it has its way! Don’t you just feel terrible when you end up doing something that you know Christ died for to set us free from, and yet how often have I found myself wallowing in self-pity? However, I do understand that it is God’s design that allows it happens like this. It is called sanctification. A process to teach us to walk in obedience before a holy God and yet life seems to be filled at times with failure, it is at these times in our lives that we are most vulnerable. A hundred idea’s and different opinions often present themselves, but we must remember that we have an enemy who would love to see our demise. The advice we receive at times may seem sound but there are periods we need to “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.”

“Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.” (Hebrews 13:9) - What then does this mean? Let a good teacher then teaches us how to apply correct theology to our standing in Christ…

“a. They were divers and various (Heb_13:9), different from what they had received from their former faithful teachers, and inconsistent with themselves.

b. They were strange doctrines: such as the gospel church was unacquainted with foreign to the gospel.

c. They were of an unsettling, distracting nature, like the wind by which the ship is tossed, and in danger of being driven from its anchor, carried away, and split upon the rocks. They were quite contrary to that grace of God which fixes and establishes the heart, which is an excellent thing. These strange doctrines keep the heart always fluctuating and unsettled.

d. They were mean and low as to their subject. They were about external, little, perishing things, such as meats and drinks, etc.

e. They were unprofitable. Those who were most taken with them, and employed about them, got no real good by them to their own souls. They did not make them more holy, nor more humble, nor more thankful, nor more heavenly.” (Matthew Henry)

 And another great teacher…

(Exodus 14:13)  “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”

“These words contain God’s command to the believer when he is reduced to great straits and brought into extraordinary difficulties. He cannot retreat; he cannot go forward; he is shut up on the right hand and on the left; what is he now to do? The Master’s word to him is, “Stand still.” It will be well for him if at such times he listens only to his Master’s word, for other and evil advisers come with their suggestions. Despair whispers, “Lie down and die; give it all up.” But God would have us put on a cheerful courage, and even in our worst times, rejoice in his love and faithfulness. Cowardice says, “Retreat; go back to the worldling’s way of action; you cannot play the Christian’s part, it is too difficult. Relinquish your principles.” But, however much Satan may urge this course upon you, you cannot follow it if you are a child of God. His divine fiat has bid thee go from strength to strength, and so thou shalt, and neither death nor hell shall turn thee from thy course. What, if for a while thou art called to stand still, yet this is but to renew thy strength for some greater advance in due time. Precipitancy cries, “do something. Stir yourself; to stand still and wait, is sheer idleness.” We must be doing something at once-we must do it so we think-instead of looking to the Lord, who will not only do something but will do everything. Presumption boasts, “If the sea be before you, march into it and expect a miracle.” But Faith listens neither to Presumption, nor to Despair, nor to Cowardice, nor to Precipitancy, but it hears God say, “Stand still,” and immovable as a rock it stands. “Stand still;”-keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice; and it will not be long ere God shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, “Go forward.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Signing off

Tyrone

Life & Peace!

(Romans 8:6) “…but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

We are taught and told to have goals from a young age, which seems like sound advice, but once our eyes have been opened to the Spirit of God, all our driving energy’s must shift gears as we now focus on Spiritual things and put aside the traps of the flesh as all they can only every produce is death. We must start learning to place God’s Word above our suppositions and worldly influences.

When we look at a positive bank balance, this in itself makes us happy as the shackles of financial worries dissipate. It is a reassuring place to be, or is it? Obviously I am happier when tomorrow is taken care of, but this is not what the bible teachers as necessarily beneficial. Sure, I would feel financially secure and I would be justified by the Word of God as we are instructed to owe no man any debt but to love our neighbor’s as we love ourselves. But when my confidence rests, in the flesh and not in the spirit then I am still walking as a carnal man and death will be a reflection of my life. “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5-9) 

Christians must become the most dependent people in the world, they must depend on the mercies and grace of God and for every minute of every day. Only then will we be able to embrace life and peace. When we motivate our children to achieve in this world to the exclusion of setting this principle first and foremost in their lives we are teaching then to embrace death. Let us not lie to ourselves. “And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”” (Luke 9:23-27) - Obedience and heaven is now our only goal! Please do not over-read the point I now make, but embrace the principle!

“Brotherly kindness was due from Edom to Israel in the time of need, but instead thereof, the men of Esau made common cause with Israel’s foes. Special stress in the sentence before us is laid upon the word thou; as when Caesar cried to Brutus, “and thou Brutus”; a bad action may be all the worse, because of the person who has committed it. When we sin, who are the chosen favourites of heaven, we sin with an emphasis; ours is a crying offence, because we are so peculiarly indulged. If an angel should lay his hand upon us when we are doing evil, he need not use any other rebuke than the question, “What thou? What dost thou here?” Much forgiven, much delivered, much instructed, much enriched, much blessed, shall we dare to put forth our hand unto evil? God forbid!

A few minutes of confession may be beneficial to thee, gentle reader, this morning. Hast thou never been as the wicked? At an evening party certain men laughed at uncleanness, and the joke was not altogether offensive to thine ear, even thou wast as one of them. When hard things were spoken concerning the ways of God, thou wast bashfully silent; and so, to on-lookers, thou wast as one of them. When worldlings were bartering in the market, and driving hard bargains, wast thou not as one of them? When they were pursuing vanity with a hunter’s foot, wert thou not as greedy for gain as they were? Could any difference be discerned between thee and them? Is there any difference? Here we come to close quarters. Be honest with thine own soul, and make sure that thou art a new creature in Christ Jesus; but when this is sure, walk jealously, lest any should again be able to say, “Even thou wast as one of them.” Thou wouldst not desire to share their eternal doom, why then be like them here? Come not thou into their secret, lest thou come into their ruin. Side with the afflicted people of God, and not with the world.” (C.H.Spurgeon)

Only once we take on the mind of Christ will we ever be partakers of “life and peace”.

It is time to shift gears and to walk in the Spirit, it must start now and if we already adopted this mind-set then we must look to feed it even the more.

Signing off

Tyrone

   

I am sure of this...

(Philippians 1:6) “And I am sure of this…”

It is a terrible thing to lose ones way or to be stranded without a plan. Last night I got a flat tyre on my way to our first midweek cottage meeting. I was stranded and there was nothing I could do, it was a rather uncomfortable feeling. To think that I did about 4000km over December last year without a spare tube and in some remote places while travelling alone without a single puncture. And then 2km from home I get a flat and need to leave my bike stranded overnight. Not a very reassuring position.

Has God left anything to chance? No He has not! If we have lost our way and feel somewhat insecure we need this truth once again to grip our hearts, then we will find direction for our lives. If I look at my life over the last twenty something years and I think about the great highs and the very depressing lows of my Christian experience I then realize what caused me at times to lose my way. “UNBELIEF”! So what does that actually mean? We are “justified by faith”. If we find ourselves in a position of apathy to our God and King, then obviously something has gone awry alone the way. It would be good for us to search our hearts; I am almost convinced we have forgotten that God has left nothing to chance. We feel that we have been stranded and left to fend for ourselves. NEVER! For without fail our King will finish what He starts. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

These are such encouraging words, why do we let them slip in our unbelief. We think we are safe because of what we do and how we act, but it is not the case; we are only safe because of what Christ achieved on our behalf on that cruel Roman cross. It started there and it ended with His resurrection. We are the beneficiaries of His grace. If you head hangs low, I say remember the love of our King, He died for you and if He was willing to die for us when we were still sinners, let’s think on this… has that thought gripped our souls, for when it does we remember just exactly what an amazing feat this was. Jesus Christ and His ultimate display of love on show. There was no glorious pomp and ceremony, but a ceremony none the less and a cruel one at that. He was not praised as the king of Kings but slaughter like a murdering criminal, yet He was willing to do it while we were yet sinners and without hope. Meditate of this, mull it over and pray that God the Holy Spirit would help you make it your own.

Now with that thought settled look at this glorious text, pay careful attention to it and then erupt with jubilation; “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10)

Do not doubt, do not be troubled as we have the greatest of Shepherds watching over His flock and just look at what He does when we lose our way; “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?” (Luke 15) – HOW MUCH MORE WILL WE BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE!

I therefore think that we forget this truth, this I why at times we lose our way, we begin to walk as we once did a life full of doubt and uncertainty, but no it is not so! If we have His Spirit and we belong to Him we will, no ifs and buts make it home to heaven, just believe! Let us echo the Words of our great brother Paul and say that we too are sure, “that he who began a good work in you (us) will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Let me leave you with these very encouraging words from a bother that saw this better than most: - “The daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.” (Isaiah 37:22)

“Reassured by the Word of the Lord, the poor trembling citizens of Zion grew bold, and shook their heads at Sennacherib’s boastful threats. Strong faith enables the servants of God to look with calm contempt upon their most haughty foes. We know that our enemies are attempting impossibilities. They seek to destroy the eternal life, which cannot die while Jesus lives; to overthrow the citadel, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. They kick against the pricks to their own wounding, and rush upon the bosses of Jehovah’s buckler to their own hurt.

We know their weakness. What are they but men? And what is man but a worm? They roar and swell like waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame. When the Lord ariseth, they shall fly as chaff before the wind, and be consumed as crackling thorns. Their utter powerlessness to do damage to the cause of God and his truth, may make the weakest soldiers in Zion’s ranks laugh them to scorn.

Above all, we know that the Most High is with us, and when he dresses himself in arms, where are his enemies? If he cometh forth from his place, the potsherds of the earth will not long contend with their Maker. His rod of iron shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel, and their very remembrance shall perish from the earth. Away, then, all fears, the kingdom is safe in the King’s hands. Let us shout for joy, for the Lord reigneth, and his foes shall be as straw for the dunghill. (C.H.Spurgeon)

“As true as God’s own word is true;

Nor earth, nor hell, with all their crew,

Against us shall prevail.

A jest, and by-word, are they grown;

God is with us, we are his own,

Our victory cannot fail.”

Signing off

Tyrone

No Condemnation!

(Romans 8:1) “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Today is another early wake-up call, by default rather than intention. It is these types mornings that I anticipation I will see something a little deeper than normal. My mind wonders, it ponders, what is my great God and Father about to teach me? Maybe I need to be disciplined, will He correct me? But one thing I am convinced about and that is that I am in the greatest of hands. There is no safer place to be, as God gives his angels charge over me. If only God would open my eyes to see what Joshua and the Israelites saw when God commanded the sun and the moon to stand still at the time He defeated the Amorites, their enemies, destroying every one of them as we too look to destroy every enemy in our lives that keeps us from serving Him - “And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD heeded the voice of a man, for the LORD fought for Israel. (Joshua 10:13-14)

I wonder has there ever been a day like that for the believer. I would have to accept the fact that God’s Word will never lie. But have we been partakers of such a day? In type, there is no doubt that the Lord Jesus achieved exactly this for all who believe on Him, His resurrection and who now confess Him as Lord.

How so one may ask?

Has not the power of the shackles of sin been removed from the life of the sons of God? It has! Nevertheless “sin” persistently chips away at us on a daily basis as it strives to get us to walk in unbelief. We know this to be true! However when we understand what Christ achieved on Calvary, sin no longer has dominion over us. This seems to be very hard for us to comprehend. We know that we still sin at times although our hearts drive us to avoid sin whenever possible. We resolve to put sin away on a daily basis, or at least this should be what drives us throughout the day. Having been saved from such bondage, we now look to walk with a freedom loving God and keeping His commandments.

What thoughts then should we start the day with? We must believe the Word of God above everything else. Let me try and unpack what Christ achieved on behalf of the believer…

We were born into sin; we had no choice in the matter. A sentence of death was once our lot in life, until God chose to save us. There was no merit in what we could offer Him and yet He so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son to die in our stead. Almost an unbelievable truth! And yet we know it is true as our soul witnesses with the Spirit of God and we are reassured that we now belong to Him. Once we were dead but now we have life! Once we were blind but now we see!

However our day consists of accusing or excusing our actions. We either feel that what we are doing is right in the eyes of God or not. Our conscience helps us to understand sin. But even the unbeliever has a conscience; we have all partaken from the tree of the “knowledge of good and evil”. What then separates us from the unbeliever? We now have Christ Spirit and they do not! How then does this help us? Well in every way!

Let us consider what He achieved on our behalf and it may help us get a handle on the constant nagging issues of the fiery darts from Satan: - “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;” (Ephesians 6:16)

He is the accuser of the brethren! He constantly reminds us of our sin, but the truth of the matter is this, we no longer can be charged with any sin, past present or future sins as Christ die once and for all. We must believe this truth even when we are almost robbed of it by our sin. Faith teaches us to believe what God has accomplished on our behalf. Where it gets tricky is when we resign to habitual sin in our lives, we take on a mindset of lasciviousness and this we must never adopt as a lifestyle for when we do we will be disciplined by our loving Father. Nevertheless what we do will never change the truth of what God has achieved in and through His Son our Saviour. Even if I habitually sin which is not God’s way for the believer, I will never be able to take away what Christ achieved on Calvary.

If I give-in to a particular sin and say to myself, it is not possible to overcome, I then make God a liar, which is a very serious indictment and who would want to go there? I sadly through lack of understanding once lived there. There will always be consequences to our actions; hence my right leg is an inch shorter than my left leg, I am HIV positive and I have failed with two marriages. This thought even now looks to defeat my faith, but my King has overcome and although my life was once full of disobedience, I now have hope to find obedience in and through my reigning King, the Lord JESUS Christ. Praise His name! 

So you see even an apparent hopeless case like me can find hope in and through Him. No matter what life has dealt you all you need do is believe on the finished work of Calvary. We cannot take away what has already been done but we can forget those things that are now behind us and we can now press on with this high from God. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Today is the day of salvation, turn to Him and find life for we cannot die while Jesus lives, Praise His name!

Signing off

Tyrone